If juniors works like seniors, and I believe it does, whether a team from China has to qualify depends on how the teams from China did in last year's Jr Worlds; if they did not all finish high enough, one or more of the Chinese teams will have to qualify in the following year. The team that has to qualify is the one with the lowest ISU determined standing.

This rule required Plushenko to skate the QR at Europeans-it has nothing to do with the team's skills and everything to do with how much they have been on the international scene in the last 3 years.

Kozuka had to qualify last year sky_fly20, and he was also at the GPF (and eventually won silver at Worlds). Kozuka had to qualify because Oda bombed worlds, so despite having three spots, only two of them were above 18th (the cut off), and Kozuka was the lowest ranking skater of the three. Also, if a country moves up a number (from 1 skater to 2 or two to 3... or 1 to three, but I don't know when that's happened), the second and/or third ranked skater have to qualify.

Does anybody know why Inga Januleviciute of Lithuania doesn't appear in the list for the short programe? She finished in 13th place in the QR. Kristina Zakharanka of Belaruss finished in 14th place and she is listed as qualified. Is it because Kristina is skating at home? I'm a bit confused.

Does anybody know why Inga Januleviciute of Lithuania doesn't appear in the list for the short programe? She finished in 13th place in the QR. Kristina Zakharanka of Belaruss finished in 14th place and she is listed as qualified. Is it because Kristina is skating at home? I'm a bit confused.

yes, Kristina is qualified for SP as a host entry. So there are 31 entries for SP, 18 seeded + 12 qualifiers + host nation entry.

I just saw the winner and he is very nice! Nam Nguyen is the little boy who skated also at Vancouver 2010 Gala?

Yes, that was him. :D He was so young there! Granted, he's only about 14 right now.

It seems that Kaetlyn Osmond won the women's preliminaries with a clean skate. :D For those who don't follow Canadian nationals, she put on quite a show in senior ladies this year, finishing 1st in the short program and 3rd overall. She seems to be very technically consistent, and she's never really competed much outside of Canada, so I really hope the rest of this week keeps going well for her. I think she has the potential to place quite well.

It seems that Kaetlyn Osmond won the women's preliminaries with a clean skate. :D

And she landed two flips and a lutz (she didn't do the lutz at Nationals). I'm a lot more hopeful for her to do well over the next few years than Cynthia and Amelie. Katelyn has lots of room for improvement still too.

And she landed two flips and a lutz (she didn't do the lutz at Nationals). I'm a lot more hopeful for her to do well over the next few years than Cynthia and Amelie. Katelyn has lots of room for improvement still too.

There is a lot of room for improvement, but she already has the makings of a great skater. Not only is she technically strong and a consistent jumper, but her spins and footwork aren't bad and she has a great performance quality already. I think with the right training she could get really good very soon, and it's been ages since I've been able to say that about a Canadian woman. Heck, she might even end up on the Olympic team in 2014.